Review #443
What a gorgeous cover, yet it tricked me in expecting a gender reversal Phantom story, which was not the case. there was never a scene where the heroine wore a mask.
“…there’s something worse than stepping up and facing your fears- and that’s living as if you’re already dead.”
Rose blood by Howard is written in all crimson ink on page which is new for me. I was worried it’d give me a headache, but not after the first chapter. This standalone with 2 PoV got a 4.4/5 stars!
I was also concerned when it seemed like a YA academia setting right off the bat but I’m hoping because it’s a musical school it’ll have a different vibe.
My thoughts and comments while reading:
The prose are already grabbing me and I’m so thankful it’s written in present tense the way I prefer.
The heroine, Rune, is standing out as unique. She’s unable to keep songs within her body when they start to consume her. With her interesting family, I’m intrigued to learn more about her grandmother and their relationship.
In chapter three the “phantom?” Has his own point of view, full of purplish prose that I’m still enjoying. But his is in 3rd person instead to change it up.
The building up tension of the song needing released from her body was done superbly well. Kudos to the author. There’s no chance I could ever pull that off.
When Rune meets her roommate and e-cigs are mixed in, the YA vibe is back strong.
Chapter 8 was a bit boring with the explanation of classes. I’m not hugely into academia settings when they’re wandering through class hallways and passing notes.
Mom’s quote angered me: “you have the potential to be something… amazing.”
She already is amazing, ma’am.
How about “You ARE amazing.”
I’m still unsure of Thorn’s goal. What is the “vile obligation” he must fulfill?
It doesn’t seem as if her singing aloud takes away others life source, since it hasn’t happened around others besides Ben. So I need a clearer reason as to why he had a seizure when he did. Was it because of a kiss? The passion? Not holding back?
The writing is beautiful and I’m jealous of Howard’s skill: “…the flow of blood creeps into the stone’s cracks and crevices beside the thorny stems, forming letters, as if Death himself is penning the scraggy, cursive words before my very eyes.”
When they meet, it makes me doubt my ability to ever write a Phantom of the Opera retelling because that scene is done so well.
Why do they need Rune specifically to complete the circle? What happens when they do? What happens if they fail?
An invitation to The Mouth of Hell…
Why is the cat following her?
Who ripped up her uniforms and why?
What will be at the club?
At the halfway point, the concept of her singing abilities having the power to revitalize withering plants is awesome.
When the word vampire is finally brought up, it’s mentioned so casually as if already known to the reader, which it was not.
It’s frustrating that her friends didn’t support her auditioning for the lead role. Why can they only support one person?
Twice in a row events have been recapped after when they could’ve been shown more during the event itself in real time.
Fated mates isn’t my favorite trope, even though I wrote a series around it.
The second half felt slower than the first half which is atypical for me. Her friends kind of disappeared from the plot which was a lost opportunity. As much as I loved the beautiful prose the climatic scene felt a little underwhelming compared to what I was expecting. Something fell flat. Overall I did like this book, giving it a 4.4/5 stars and recommend it to YA fans.